Principal Software Engineer, Splunk Analytics and Search

Cisco Systems, Inc.; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 241,000 - 323,000; Full time

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a Principal Software Engineer to design distributed search and analytics systems that scale for thousands of customers worldwide. You will collaborate with Cisco and Splunk teams to transform long-term technical visions into practical, reliable solutions.

You will guide engineering efforts from design through delivery, improve performance and reliability of the search platform, and mentor teams while shaping technical strategy and hiring across the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 15+ years of experience, Master's degree with 12+ years, PhD with 10+ years, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience designing and building large-scale distributed systems or data platforms.
• Experience developing software that operates reliably in production.
• Experience with distributed computing, search technologies, data processing, or query execution.
• Experience working with cloud, hybrid, or on-premises platforms.
• Experience with C++, SQL, or cloud technologies such as AWS.
• Experience with search engines, distributed query processing, or large-scale analytics platforms.

Responsibilities

• Design distributed search and analytics systems that are reliable, scalable, and easy to evolve.
• Partner with engineering and product teams to turn long-term technical vision into practical solutions.
• Guide complex engineering efforts from early design through delivery and ongoing improvements.
• Improve the performance, reliability, and efficiency of the Splunk search platform.
• Help teams simplify existing systems while building reusable platform capabilities.
• Work across organizations to solve technical challenges and make thoughtful engineering decisions.
• Share knowledge through design reviews, mentoring, and technical discussions.
• Partner with customers and support teams to address important production issues and learn from real-world usage.
• Contribute to technical strategy, hiring, and the engineering culture across the organization.

Skills

Distributed systems design

Production software

Distributed computing

Search technologies

Cloud technologies (AWS)

C++

SQL

Data processing

Education

Bachelor's degree + 15+ years

Master's degree + 12+ years

PhD + 10+ years

Tools

C++

SQL

AWS

Job description

The application window is expected to close on: 08/21/2026

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the Team

Cisco and Splunk are building a safer, more resilient digital world. Organizations around the globe rely on our security and observability platform to keep their systems secure, available, and performing at their best. The Analytics and Search organization powers one of the most important capabilities of the Splunk Platform. Our teams build the technology that helps customers explore, understand, and act on massive amounts of machine data. As AI becomes an increasingly important part of the platform, we continue to evolve our search technologies to support new ways of discovering insights and solving problems.

Your Impact

We're looking for a Principal Software Engineer who enjoys solving difficult technical problems, working across teams, and helping shape the future of search at Splunk. In this role, you'll work with engineers, architects, and product partners across Cisco and Splunk to build technologies that serve thousands of customers around the world.

• Design distributed search and analytics systems that are reliable, scalable, and easy to evolve.
• Partner with engineering and product teams to turn long-term technical vision into practical solutions.
• Guide complex engineering efforts from early design through delivery and ongoing improvements.
• Improve the performance, reliability, and efficiency of the Splunk search platform.
• Help teams simplify existing systems while building reusable platform capabilities.
• Work across organizations to solve technical challenges and make thoughtful engineering decisions.
• Share knowledge through design reviews, mentoring, and technical discussions.
• Partner with customers and support teams to address important production issues and learn from real-world usage.
• Contribute to technical strategy, hiring, and the engineering culture across the organization.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 15+ years of experience, Master's degree with 12+ years, PhD with 10+ years, or equivalent practical experience.
• Experience designing and building large-scale distributed systems or data platforms.
• Experience developing software that operates reliably in production.
• Experience with distributed computing, search technologies, data processing, or query execution.
• Experience working with cloud, hybrid, or on-premises platforms.
• Experience with C++, SQL, or cloud technologies such as AWS.
• Experience with search engines, distributed query processing, or large-scale analytics platforms.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability to collaborate across multiple engineering teams and influence technical direction.
• Strong communication skills, including explaining technical concepts to different audiences.
• Experience mentoring engineers and supporting technical growth across teams.
• Knowledge of indexing, query optimization, databases, or information retrieval.
• Familiarity with Spark, Presto, Athena, or similar distributed data systems.
• Experience building cloud-native services.
• Experience with observability, security, analytics, or similar enterprise platforms.
• Experience working directly with enterprise customers.

Why Cisco?

At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond. We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and/or Canada:

The starting salary range posted for this position is $241,400.00 to $322,600.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco’s plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco’s policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
• 1 paid day off for employee’s birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco
• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees
• Exempt employees participate in Cisco’s flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)
• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto the next
• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members
• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco’s policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;
• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;
• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and
• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

$250,600.00 - $416,900.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

$241,400.00 - $371,000.00

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco’s sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.